We know there are many folks who think Panama is all thatched roofs and small concrete homes. Well, we are here to tell you it’s not true. One of the things we enjoy about being senior nomads is that every so often we have new surroundings, new furniture and new neighbors and friends. We are currently living in Valle Escondido which is a gated community in the valley of Boquete, Panama.
Valle Escondido…
We are in a three bedroom home with all the amenities found in any home in the US. We have an LG front-loading washer and dryer, a two door refrigerator with freezer drawer on the bottom, vaulted ceilings and a large screen TV.
Living room, dining room and laundry room…
The master suite has a double sink and both guest bedrooms have queen size beds and lots of space.
Bedrooms & bathroom…
The kitchen counter is beautiful granite and the back patio has a propane grill. Yes, we are roughing it!!!
Kitchen & Patio…
The gated community of Valle Escondido has single family homes, duplexes, four plexes, condos, a hotel, a chapel, an amphitheater, two restaurants, an indoor pool, an organic garden, a labyrinth, a miniature golf course, a stocked trout pond, waterfalls, streams, a driving range, a golf course and an exercise room.
Valle Escondidto…
We reside in a duplex and our living space is all on one level with covered parking outside for two cars.
Our house…
The grounds here are meticulously manicured and very beautiful. One of our neighbors has a pet coatimundi named Holly who stops by sometimes when out walking with her mom doggie pal, Riko.
Holly & Riko…
Coatimundis are not usually pets but Holly was orphaned as a baby and bottle nursed by our friends here who decided she would be better in their home than being put back into the wild. She is spayed, her canine teeth are filed for (human) safety and she is a very friendly little girl. We have another coatimundi that comes to the back door looking for food. This is a wild coatimundi, so we have only interacted with this one through the screen door.
Back porch coatimundi…
The city of Boquete has a mix of US expats, Canadians, Panamanians, Venezuelans, and a mixing bowl of other people just enjoying the cool temps and eternal spring weather here. Neither air conditioning nor heat are needed in Boquete though many homes (as well as this one) have gas fireplaces for ambiance and to take the occasional chill out of the air.
City Views…
There are many restaurants in Boquete with choices of Italian, French, seafood, burgers, pizza or whatever your heart desires. We even played Trivia at Mike’s Global Grill last week.
Just a few of the selections to be found…
There is a large grocery store in town called Romero’s and in the city of David (Dah-VEED) which is approximately 30 minutes away, there are two very large modern grocery stores and a PriceSmart membership store (Panama’s equivalent to Costco) which even carries the Kirkland brand and many items just as one would find in Costco together with lots of other shopping opportunities.
Romero’s…
We are here during what is called the green or rainy season and we get a lot of afternoon showers, ok downpours. They last for a while, stop, then sometimes start again.
Yes, it rains here once in a while…
This time of year, the best time for touring or sightseeing in this area is early morning until about mid-afternoon when the skies open and provide nourishment for all the greenery and the wide variety of flowers that flourish here. There are several day trips and there will be blogs about them coming up.
We have been enjoying ourselves so much that we have not made a blog entry in a while. Life is good.
A lot has transpired since our last post. In July we flew back to the US for a visit with family and friends and, as always, had a wonderful time catching up with everyone there. In New Mexico we got have some good time with Carter, our precious grandson and, of course his mom and dad. Since we were not around for Christmas, we took Carter to Toy-R-Us to do some shopping (after going to see the new Minion movie) and he and PopPop Bob had fun looking at toys.
Such boys!!
Who DOESN’T love toy shopping…
We were able to empty our storage unit and cancel it (yeah!!)
MORE stuff gone…
and gather all the paperwork needed for our residency visas in Panama to return with everything IN HAND. Definitely an accomplishment.
We then flew to Florida to see our other son and family and enjoy those three grandbabies before returning to Panama.
Gannon, Trinity and Nolan…
In mid August, we flew to Panama with our residency paperwork in our carry on luggage and one of the first things we did was submit the paperwork
Which expat doesn’t know this building…
and (drumroll please) we were approved for pensionado residency. We have our temporary residency cards. Major accomplishment!!!!
I know our logo has always been one suitcase and two backpacks but it has been more difficult to find a short-term rental in the beach condo in Gorgona that we so enjoy so we decided to sign a one year lease starting November 1 and do our traveling with that as a home base. So this trip we had three suitcases and two backpacks so we could bring a few personal things to nest for a year. We find life is best when we are fluid with our plans and just figure the future out as we go along.
So we stayed with friends in Gorgona for a few days, stored some of our stuff with them and left Gorgona late in August with one suitcase and two backpacks on a long bus ride headed to David, Panama. In David some friends picked us up for the ride from there to Boquete, Panama where we will call home until the end of September. Look for pictures of this amazing part of Panama in our next blog.
Until then, safe travels and be happy. Life is good.
I’m very excited to be posting this. My beautiful wife and I got the opportunity to walk where nobody will ever set foot again. About 8am on a Saturday morning, we got a call from our friends Chris and Dick. They invited us to attend the Family and Friends Tour of the Panama Canal Expansion Project. An hour later we were seated in the back seat of their SUV with 3 other couples in two other vehicles following us toward Panama City and the canal expansion project. As we drove, Chris explained how they had a name of a person who was a worker on the project and that we were “on the list”. In my mind, a VERY important fact. When we got closer to Cocoli, the traffic started to get heavier. We made the turn onto the exit and came to a complete stop. We were still a couple miles away from the expansion. Behind us, a motorcycle officer pulled in front of the second car behind us and started hollering in Spanish and pointing back to the highway. As I watched, people behind us started to turn their cars around and drive back down to the highway, including one of the couples who were with us.
Walking toward the expansion…
As we sat and waited, we saw people parking on the shoulder of the highway and walking toward the expansion. Finally, we started to move again toward Cocoli.
Moving again…
Cars were parked in ever tiny hole that they would fit into.
Park ANYWHERE…
We found a side road and Dick drove up the road, turned around and parked behind the last car in line. We walked down to the main street and flagged down a coaster bust that was headed toward the project.
Coasters to the expansion…Suzi and Chris on the coaster…
If you’ve ever been to Disneyland, you know how they make you snake your way around the stanchions to get to the ride.
Waiting in line…
The Panama Canal Expansion project was no different, except we were snaking around bus stops built into the staging area.
Hundreds of people…
This is the area where the workers are picked up by buses to be taken to the job site. Due to the size of the project and the workforce needed, this helps reduce the amount of vehicles at the actual expansion.
A festive atmosphere…”100 Years Later! Our History…”
As we slowly moved toward the front of the line, the heat started to take its toll, my wife being one of the people succumbing to the heat.
Suzi’s tour…
I left my wife in the care of the paramedics and continued toward the front of the line.
Through the security gates…
Once there, I boarded a bus that would take me to the Expansion.
We drove past the buildings that will house the controls for the new gates
Gate control buildings…
and down to the south end of the Pacific side locks. We got out of the bus here and saw
Displays, facts and figures…
displays about the expansion project, stats, facts and figures. Since we were at the end of the locks, we could see down into the canal expansion itself.
Looking into the canal…3 of the 4 step-downs…This piece of ground will go away…
After snapping a few pictures,
Waiting for the buses…
I boarded a bus and we headed back along the locks and this time, it turned right and we headed down into the canal itself.
Down into the project…
As we drove, the walls got higher and higher and when the bus stopped, we were in the 3rd level of the canal expansion project!!!
Wall with water ports…
We walked along the 98 foot high concrete wall past the water ports that are large enough to drive a car into.
One of the water ports…
These ports will be used to let water in and out of the canal. We walked over the trenches where the new gates will roll to open and close
Gate rail…
and then around and up close to the new gates themselves.
These are huge…
Just to give you a sense of how big this job is, the new expansion is 60% larger than the current Panama Canal. The channel itself has 98 foot high concrete walls and is 180 feet wide. There are a total of 16 gates, 188 feet long and 30 feet wide. They range in height from 73 feet to 109 feet tall. A lock in the current canal is 998 feet long. A lock in the expansion is 2,057 feet long.
I made my way back toward where the buses were picking people up
Looking back at our first stop…
and stopped to look back to the tents at our first stop of the day. People were taking pictures every where they could for this historic event.
Smile for mom ninö…Awaiting our bus…
Those are full size buses parked against the wall of the canal. I boarded a bus and it took me out of the project and back to the parking lot to my waiting wife.
Suzi waiting to leave…
I believe on this day, there were some 30,000 people who came to see the new expansion project. The weekend after the expansion would host the general public and even larger crowds.
Below I have added a link to the first water going into the Atlantic side of the Expansion Project.
We first landed in Panama May 10, 2014. It is over a year now and time to look back at some of the things we have learned over the past year in Panama.
Perhaps the most difficult adjustment for us has been seeing so many stray dogs and cats roaming the streets. We have never seen an aggressive animal and they all coexist nicely; cats, dogs, chickens. They are not pets as Americans know pets.
Sylvia…
Some people put food out for them, some expats feed them, but it is definitely very different and an adjustment when first living in Panama. There are dogs on the beach,
Just a beach dog…
sleeping in the roads or in parking lots
Dogs sleep anywhere…
and just roaming around. There is a non-profit group (many of whom are expats) known as “Spay the Strays” who work with local vets who volunteer their time to help curb the overpopulation of homeless animals. To animal lovers such as us, it’s a very heart-tugging situation. Some expats have rescued dogs and/or cats and do have them as pets but animals in yards of local people are usually workers. Their job is to guard the house and warn of anyone entering the property. They are not brought into the home, are fed and cared for but are not petted, scratched and loved in the sense we Americans are used to. Difficult adjustment.
Fuego, fuego everywhere
Let’s talk a little about fires. Our last permanent home was in New Mexico and if you know anything about that beautiful state, you may know it’s VERY dry. Often the humidity is below 10. Fire is very dangerous in NM and in high fire season smoking outdoors is not permitted nor are campfires, fireworks or anything else that could cause a fire. It was quite an adjustment to realize in Panama much of the trash and yard debris like leaves and branches is often burned
Burning debris and yard waste…
on the side of the road, in the yard, anywhere it happens to be. At first, we would see smoke
Burning something…
and get that “uh oh” feeling, but we had to get used to it because at any given time we can stand on the back side of our building and see four or five fires burning.
More burning…
Sometimes they appear unattended but we think there must always be someone keeping an eye on them.
Fires in the hills…
Some people close their windows on that side of the condo when there are more than three fires blazing to avoid the smell and any ash. We love the smell!! Often there are various wood branches burning and we just find it fragrant.
Fireworks are fun
Another adjustment was fireworks. Fireworks are everywhere and often. There are actual permanent firework stores as fireworks are not just for holidays. Panamanians LOVE fireworks.
Fireworks…
For birthdays, weddings, holidays, even just because!!
Fireworks for any occasion…
We often see fireworks along the beach on weekends and people in the condos cheer for them. I’m not talking little firecrackers. I’m talking big ole 4th of July kind of rockets and loud and colorful fireworks. We were here for New Years Eve 2014 and the display along the beaches from Coronado to Gorgona lasted an hour and a half.
Fireworks everywhere…
I kid you not. It was an amazing sight. There are no rules about when or where fireworks can be ignited. We have seen them in the park, on the beach, in neighborhoods…. there is no regulation and Panamanians will celebrate anything or nothing with fireworks.
Mail call
Another peculiarity we have observed is that there are no addresses and no mail delivery in Panama. Once a month, an electric bill is put on or under the door. They are actually hand delivered, no envelopes and no on line payment either. At certain times of the month, there are long lines of people in the grocery stores at the customer service counter waiting to pay their bills. I believe automatic payment from an account can be arranged but you can’t jump online and pay. We’ve also heard that Cable Onda (Cable One in Panama) works the same way. And if you don’t pay the bill, they turn off service. No three warnings, no notice. Your bill, your responsibility. End of story. There are clusters of postal boxes near larger towns and you can arrange to have one of those but from what we have heard, the service is not very impressive. Many expats use services such as Mail Boxes, Etc. where, for a monthly fee, they have a MBE address in the US (many are in Miami but I’ve heard of others) and mail that comes to your box in the US is forwarded to the local Panama MBE where you have an account and you pick it up there. This seems to be the more reliable method of receiving mail and I believe the monthly charge is about $25.
If you think about it for a moment, having no mail delivery and no addresses has its own set of problems. We are at a condo that has a name (Playa Serena Beachfront Resort) but if we weren’t, how do you call a taxi? Have pizza delivered (and there ARE one or two delivery places) or invite a new acquaintance to your home. It’s more like turn left at the MiniSuper (M/S) Jonathan then follow the road to the big turquoise house and turn left — get the idea? Kind of complicated. The directions to the hairdresser are “turn right at the T then when you pass the tree in the middle of the road
Yes, past the tree IN the road…
take the first left and it’s four houses down on the right”.
While we are at it, what is a MiniSuper?
M/S Gorgona…
These are also called Chinos. They are convenience stores ALL owned and operated by Chinese families who settled in Panama during the building of the Panama Canal. They are handed down family member to family member and calling them Chinos is not considered disrespectful or politically incorrect.
M/S Angelina
That’s just what they are and there are a lot of them. Our condo is a couple of miles from the PanAmerican Highway and we pass five on the way home, or maybe six. Two are within walking distance from the condo. They sell everything from eggs to chicken to laundry detergent. One of the unique things is that if you are baking and need three eggs, you can buy three eggs. You don’t need to buy a dozen or half dozen.
M/S Johnathan…
You can buy three. If you are making a sandwich and want a slice of cheese, you can literally buy a slice of cheese, the individually wrapped kind, one slice. One battery. One can of coke, one roll of toilet paper and on and on. Just a little different, huh?
Keeping things trimmed
Interestingly enough, machetes are used to trim shrubs, clear brush and whatever other yard work needs to be done. We have seen shrubs shaped without clippers, hedges trimmed without trimmers and all kinds of things done with only one tool, the mighty machete and someone who knows how to use it. It’s an interesting and versatile tool that, in the hands of a pro, can do just about any yard maintenance.
And then there is the job of cutting the grass. We have seen very few lawn mowers in Panama. The weapon of choice to cut grass is, oddly enough, a weed wacker.
“Mowing” the lawn…
At any given time we can hear a faint buzzing in the distance of someone cutting grass with their weed wacker. It seems tedious and odd to us but there are a lot of hillsides and not very many large lawn areas so I guess it makes sense or at least we have gotten so used to it that it no longer seems odd.
Communication
We have also learned about unlocking cell phones, Sim cards and how to change them out and keep them charged up with time/money. We’ve learned about USB Sticks for internet service. One tip here, it’s a good idea to have your phone set up as a hotspot in case you have no other way to get on line.
We have learned how to watch US TV and how to use a VPN (Virtual Private Network) for accessibility to sites that are not available outside the US. A VPN assigns your device a US IP address so these sites become available to us. Most recently, we have been introduced to the Kodi operating system which gives us access to movie’s, USTV Now (access to CBS, NBC, ABC and many other channels).
Mostly, I think we have learned a different style of life down here. Things move at a slower pace here. You might have to wait in line sometimes here, but nobody seems to get upset about it. Traffic jams, yes they happen, nobody minds. It’s just they way it is down here. Panamanians always greet you with a “buena” or “hola”. School kids wear uniforms. Everybody does their “own thing” and everybody else is fine with that. Is life perfect? No. Is life perfect ANYWHERE? Not that we have seen. But down here, for us, it’s pretty darn close.
After hitching a ride from Bocas del Toro with some friends, we stopped over at their house in Altos del Maria for 2 days of sightseeing. Altos del Maria is a beautiful HUGE community in the mountains.
Altos del Maria map
Having many elevations, parts of Altos are much cooler than surrounding areas and people chose where in Altos to settle depending on the temperature they want to live with. There is housing at several elevations so lots of choices.
Homes in the trees…And homes above the trees…Those who make the blowing wind…Our host with those who blow the wind…
There are numerous manicured, well-maintained hiking paths that we enjoyed exploring with our friends.
Suzi coming up a trail…Suzi and our host over a waterfall…
They the drove us to our next stop, a house sit and dog cuddle in Cermeño. Cermeño is a quiet little town, east of Capira. As we followed the road, we passed old gates built into high walls,
This gate is still in use…As is this one…
even one of Manual Noriega’s country homes, which is now a drug rehab center.
The rehab center…
We understand it is a two year program and working at the center is part of the rigorous requirements to remain there.
The town church…
Cermeño has a town square and a beautiful little the church. A left at the mini-super and we drove up to the gates of the finca,
Looking back at the gate…
our home for the next month.
The finca…
The finca sits on approximately 8 hectares
Trimmed with a machete…Rolling green hills…
and has a vegetable garden,
The garden…
a pool, many fruit trees
Water apple tree…Water apples…
and 3 dogs, Emma, Spot and Chispa (English translation “Spark” and she certainly is).
Emma, the Grand Dame…Spot…the guard dog…Chispa…fastest dog on the finca…
There are several expats settled in the area and we enjoyed visiting with some of them during our time there and hearing the stories of how everyone got there. There were also many beautiful flowers everywhere
Flowers…And more flowers…Tiny white rose type flowers…
and a few rainy days just made all the colors more vivid. We explored the area around Cermeño including the busy town of Capira. Capira has a quaint little walled area for kids to play,
Inside the walls…Still inside…Outside the walls…
decorated with all kinds of whimsical characters.
We made a trip out to the fishing village of Cruces
Low tide at the bay at Cruces…Fresh catch…
and we bought langastinos
Langostinos…
from the local fishermen. Now, living on a finca does come with certain “items” that we should mention. Along with the 3 dogs, there were a few other “critters” that kept us company while we were there.
Geckos…Enlightened gecko…Just crawling through…Bat-ter up…Looking for grass…
A great month for us, experiencing a different type of life that is offered here in Panama.
Arriving in Panama this time on November 1st, 2014 and planning to stay until June or July, we thought that while we were up by the border in Bocas Town, it would be a good idea to reset our passports and make a border run to Costa Rica and back. We contacted a company called Caribe Shuttle in Bocas Town and told them we we wanted to go to Costa Rica and back. Since you can’t, as far as we know, just go across the border, get your stamp and come back in the same day, the girl at the desk suggested we stay at Banana Azul just outside a town called Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica. We paid our 30 dollars each for the shuttle and made reservations at the Banana Azul.
2 days later, we took the water taxi to Almirante
Water taxi to Almirante…
and boarded the waiting shuttle to Changuinola,
Suzi on the Caribe Shuttle…
a small town right on the border of Panama and Costa Rica. We were directed by our shuttle driver to the immigration office and we received our exit stamp that shows we left Panama. We then paid the exit tax, yes you need to pay to leave, and we walked across the river on the train bridge
On the bridge, over the river…
into Costa Rica. We stopped at the immigration office and got our entry stamp, and were directed to another Caribe Shuttle van for the ride to Banana Azul. We spent the night at Banana Azul,
Hotel Banana Azul…
had a wonderful meal
Another little traveler…
and even saw our very first wild sloth
Our first wild sloth…
before the Caribe Shuttle picked us up for the ride back to the border. Once we got to the town of Sixaola,
Sixaola, Costa Rica…
we reversed the process. We paid our exit tax to Costa Rica, took the receipt
Exit receipt from Costa Rica…
and got our exit stamp, walked back across the train bridge
On the bridge…
to Changuinola, paid our entry fee, got our entry stamp resetting our passports and got back on our Caribe Shuttle BACK to Almirante and the water taxi back to Bocas Town.
Just a few notes. The drivers of Caribe Shuttle in Panama and Costa Rica were wonderful. They made sure we knew where to go, which office we should go to and they were on time and waiting for us at each location. As to the “taxes” we paid to leave and enter both Costa Rica and Panama, it’s just part of the process at this border crossing. If we had to pay a few bucks extra to leave and enter the two countries overnight, I’m not going to worry about it. It’s really no different than paying more money to get a FBI Background check overnight instead of 12 weeks later (story to follow at some point).
We arrived at our new home for the next month, dropped off our suitcase and backpacks and ventured into town to check it out.
Main street…
We stayed on Isla Colón (pronounced Cologne) and life is a very laid back.
Bocas Town…
Bocas is full of tourists, backpackers, surfers, hostels and happy hours.
Bocas Town…
Many of the restaurants overlook the water and, as a result, there were postcards everywhere we looked.
Across the bay…From Restaurant Tom…
We did some snorkeling and the underwater world here is as pretty as the sights above water.
Fire Coral…Fish…Scuba divers…Starfish…
There are water taxis available to hop to neighboring islands and we enjoyed the fun of island hopping for lunch or dinner, sometimes hanging out and snorkeling.
Water taxis…Water taxi welcoming committee…Cosmic Crab on Isla Carenero …
We spent a day on Isla Bastimentos with some new friends and had lunch at The Firefly.
Isla Bastimentos…The view from shore…The Firefly…Island home for sale…Smiles of the children…
Life is peaceful here.
Tranquilo…
We toured Finca Los Monos Botanical Garden. This is a 25 acre privately-owned paradise.
Finca…
The owners moved to Bocas more than 16 years ago and cleared jungle land to build a house and plant some flowers.
Flowers…
After six years of clearing and planting numerous varieties of flowers and palms, a decision was made to open the gardens to the public and provide tours.
Ponds…
The grounds have become a refuge for howler monkeys,
Howler Monkeys…
butterflies, iguanas, numerous species of birds and even several sloths.
Another howler monkey…
We were fortunate enough to see a group of howler monkeys hanging out and swinging through the trees.
Lyn…
Lyn, who owns the 25 acre refuge along with her husband Dave, provided a wealth of information. She is a self-taught botanist and her energy and excitement about the area and the plants is very contagious. It was a wonderful day.
Paki Point…
We made more than one trip to Paki Point to relax and watch the surfers.
Surfing…
Besides good food and surfing, Paki Point is also known for the artwork
Artwork…
one of Panama’s premier artists, Ronaldo De Dedas (Rolo), has left there on the walls, tables, chairs and everywhere including several murals of his “mamis,”
Mamis…
visions of Mother Nature shown through symbolic representations of Panamanian and other Latin American women.
A beautiful setting…
A trip to Bocas is not complete without a visit to Paki Point
